SHAFAQNA – The Syrian army supported by Russian warplanes has conducted a major operation to eliminate ISIS’s most battle-tested and well-armed unit in Tell Ghanem al-Ali on Euphrates River, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday.
“Currently, a grouping of Syrian government troops is rapidly carrying out an offensive along the eastern shore of the Euphrates River, moving toward Deir ez-Zor. The goal is to unblock this city and destroy the last stronghold of ISIS in Syria,” the Defense Ministry said.
The Syrian army and self-defense units supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces have significantly advanced toward Deir ez-Zor from three directions, the Russian General Staff said earlier this week.
The lifting of siege of Deir ez-Zor will lead to the complete defeat of the most combat-effective formations of ISIS terrorist group in Syria, the chief of the Russian General Staff’s Main Operational Directorate said on Friday.
Deir ez-Zor, located on the shores of the Euphrates River to the northeast of Damascus, and a military airfield near the city have been besieged by ISIS for over three years, with food and ammunition only being delivered by air.
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